Sunset Blvd. (1950), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003), Laurel and Hardy's Laughing '20s (1965), Dances with Wolves (1990), The Artist (2011), The Freshman (1925), The Green Man (1957) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Silent Movies movies.
Storyline: In Hollywood of the 50's, the obscure screenplay writer Joe Gillis is not able to sell his work to the studios, is full of debts and is thinking in returning to his hometown to work in an office. While trying to escape from his creditors, he has a flat tire and parks his car in a decadent mansion in Sunset Boulevard. He meets the owner and former silent-movie star Norma Desmond, who lives alone with her butler and driver Max Von Mayerling. Norma is demented and believes she will return to the cinema industry, and is protected and isolated from the world by Max, who was her director and husband in the past and still loves her. Norma proposes Joe to move to the mansion and help her in writing a screenplay for her comeback to the cinema, and the small-time writer becomes her lover and gigolo. When Joe falls in love for the young aspirant writer Betty Schaefer, Norma becomes jealous and completely insane and her madness leads to a tragic end.
Plot Keywords: writer, actress, lover, butler, police officer, chilling, dark ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: 1927 Hollywood. Monumental Pictures' biggest stars, glamorous on-screen couple Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood, are also an off-screen couple if the trade papers and gossip columns are to be believed. Both perpetuate the public perception if only to please their adoring fans and bring people into the movie theaters. In reality, Don barely tolerates her, while Lina, despite thinking Don beneath her, simplemindedly believes what she sees on screen in order to bolster her own stardom and sense of self-importance. R.F. Simpson, Monumental's head, dismisses what he thinks is a flash in the pan: talking pictures. It isn't until The Jazz Singer (1927) becomes a bona fide hit which results in all the movie theaters installing sound equipment that R.F. knows Monumental, most specifically in the form of Don and Lina, have to jump on the talking picture bandwagon, despite no one at the studio knowing anything about the technology. Musician Cosmo Brown, Don's best friend, gets hired as Monumental's ...
Plot Keywords: actor, singer, actress, friend, songwriter, filmmaker, emotional ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Narrated by Sydney Pollack, film critic Richard Schickel's dazzling two-hour plus documentary to one of the towering figures in film: Charles Chaplin. Hardcore Chaplin fans may not find much new material here, but more unfamiliar admirers will gain some valuable information about one of the most famous personalities of the 20th century. Schickel has constructed the documentary as a chronological survey of Chaplin's work, starting with his most significant shorts and covering all of his features. Schickel supports his narration with testimony from artists familiar with Chaplin's work and family members who offer personal insights into the comedian's life. The documentary plays down but doesn't ignore the controversies that swirled around Chaplin's private life. But the main focus is on the films. They include some of the best-loved movies of all time. Clips from "Kid Auto Races at Venice," the 1914 Keystone short in which Chaplin first used his Tramp costume, reveal a startlingly modern technique and sensibility, as if the filmmakers were predicting and mocking reality TV. Subsequent shorts show Chaplin refining his 'Little Tramp' character while absorbing the essentials of filmmaking. By the time he made "Easy Street," in 1917, Chaplin had perfected a combination of knockabout farce and Victorian sentiment that still proves irresistible. Chaplin's early features, including "The Kid," "The Gold Rush" and "City Lights," were such blockbuster hits that he could essentially ignore the coming of sound for almost a decade. Those making appearances on the program include Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Jeanine Basinger, Claire Bloom, Geraldine Chaplin. Sydney Chaplin, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Milos Forman, Bill Irwin, Norman Lloyd, Marcel Marceau, David Raksin, David Robinson, Andrew Sarris, Martin Scorsese and Jeffrey Vance.—alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords: actor, filmmaker, celebrity, daughter, son, amusing, creative ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: This anthology, compiled by Robert Youngson, presents a series of silent short films from the 1920s starring the celebrated comedy duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. In these early collaborations, Hardy plays an uncle embarrassed by the kilt of his Scottish nephew (Stan Laurel), and later the duo portrays a pair of inept butlers at a socialite's lavish dinner. The collection also features films by lesser-known silent comedians including Charley Chase and Max Davidson.
Plot Keywords: actor, comedian, madcap, hilarious, california, hollywood, calif., silent movies ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Lt. John Dunbar is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and sheds his white-man's ways.
Plot Keywords: soldier, military officer, love interest, indian, wolf, emotional, tense ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Outside a movie premiere, enthusiastic fan Peppy Miller literally bumps into the swashbuckling hero of the silent film, George Valentin. The star reacts graciously and Peppy plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers. The headlines demand: "Who's That Girl?" and Peppy is inspired to audition for a dancing bit-part at the studio. However as Peppy slowly rises through the industry, the introduction of talking-pictures turns Valentin's world upside-down.
Plot Keywords: movie star, actress, wife, dog, driver, studio head, charming ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Harold Lamb's dream is to go to college and become the most popular student on campus, much like the character Speedy played by actor Lester Laurel in the movie "The College Hero". Accepted into Tate College, Harold plans on emulating Speedy, including giving himself the nickname Speedy, to gain that popularity, not realizing that if he does so, he will be more the buffoon than the hero. To be the most popular student, he will have to outdo the current most popular student, football captain Chet Trask. Unaware Speedy's task is made all the more difficult when one of the upperclassmen, seeing how hard Speedy is trying to impress, does whatever he can to make Speedy look all the more ridiculous, all the while Speedy believing he is achieving his dream. The bully's efforts are made all the more easy as Speedy is able to buy his way to seeming popularity with the small nest egg he was able to accumulate from work. The one thing that Speedy may not be able to buy is his way onto the football team, which he is convinced is the only surefire way to becoming the campus hero, despite not realizing that he truly is not the football type. While Speedy remains unaware how he truly looks to his classmates, Peggy, the daughter of the owner of the rooming house where he is staying, is aware, she who is in love with him, and he with her. The love of a good woman may be able to provide Speedy with a clearer understanding of who he truly should be to impress, and/or get his mind focused on other things other than being everyone's best friend.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: college graduate, football player, fool, hilarious, quirky, inspiring, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Work has been going with a bang for freelance assassin Hawkins but a job in England is a different matter. His apparently easy target, a pompous government minister, is off for some hanky-panky at the Green Man on the south coast, where Hawkins is planning to retire him for good. But before he can get on with this the hit-man has a procession of unwanted visitors at home to dispose of - one way or another.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: assassin, dictator, millionaire, politician, salesman, love interest, cheeky ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s. It starts with a 1905 look at French comedy, goes through the 1910s with Sennett, Chaplin, and Fairbanks, and into the 1920s with Max Roach, Snub Pollard, Harry Langdon, Al St. John, Charlie Chase, and the teaming of Laurel and Hardy. Thrillers feature Houdini and serials, with special attention to Pearl White, Ruth Roland, and Monty Banks. The film often lets the silent pictures speak for themselves, running entire one-reelers or significant chunks of an old movie.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: actor, comedian, magician, cop, amusing, engaging, city ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Aspiring filmmakers Mel Funn, Marty Eggs and Dom Bell go to a financially troubled studio with an idea for a silent movie. In an effort to make the movie more marketable, they attempt to recruit a number of big name stars to appear, while the studio's creditors attempt to thwart them. The film contains only one word of dialogue, spoken by an unlikely source.
Plot Keywords: director, actor, studio head, dancer, actress, playful, hysterical ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Released during the sixties wave for nostalgia, this film celebrates the antics of the seven greatest silent film comedians.
Plot Keywords: buster keaton, comedian, madcap, charming, engaging, film set, united states ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Fun loving Pearl White, working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic vaudeville performance. Her brief stage career leads her into those "horrible" moving pictures, where she comes to love the chaotic world of silent movies, becoming queen of the serials. But the consequences of movie stardom may be more than her leading man can take.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: woman, starlet, director, best friend, mentor, actor, hilarious ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: 1911. Chicago lawyer Leo Harrigan and Florida proverbial snake-oil salesman Tom "Buck" Greenway, neither particularly committed and thus good at their respective jobs, accidentally get involved in the moving picture making business - one, two, three and four reelers shown at nickelodeons - Leo initially as a scenarist turned scenarist/director/editor and Buck as an action actor, despite neither initially knowing anything about their jobs and Buck in addition not knowing how to ride a horse and being afraid of heights, both things which he is asked to deal with in front of the camera. They both get into the business working for independent producer H.H. Cobb at a time when the big moving picture companies formed the Patents Company, using heavy handed tactics to prevent small companies, like Cobb's Kinegraph, from being able to make pictures by denying use of cameras under supposed patent. Via different routes, Leo and Buck initially meet at one of Cobb's secret sets located in the backwater frontier railroad stop of Cugamonga, California, so chosen to hide from the Patent Company. Leo and Buck's relationship becomes even more complicated as they both fall in love at first sight with Kathleen Cooke, an extremely nearsighted and klutzy Chautauqua girl on a national tour, she who also literally stumbles onto the Cugamonga set. Their personal and professional lives are presented over a four year period, those lives which are not only affected by the on-going battle with the Patents Company, and Leo and Buck's love for Kathleen, but their own growth within the business, the struggle for artistic control, and the changing face of the business which hits a milestone in 1915.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: attorney, director, actor, starlet, crew member, spirited, witty ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In the early 1920s Hollywood, Adolph Zitz, who surrounds himself with yes men, wants his movie studio, Rainbow, to be the greatest in town by making a movie called the "World's Greatest Lover" and finding that next star to outshine Rudolph Valentino as the renowned screen lover of his time. Mild mannered and somewhat hapless Rudy Hickman dreams of being such a movie star, he daydreaming about it so much that he is unable to hold onto his bakery jobs. With his supportive but highly hysterical wife Annie Hickman by his side, Rudy, using the stage name Rudy Valentine, pulls up stakes from Milwaukee and heads to Hollywood to try out for that part. He ends up getting a screen test like the thousands of other hopefuls flooding Hollywood for the chance. Annie, who loves the movies herself but who is naive from not having had much exposure to the world, has ulterior motives for going to Hollywood. Both Annie's Hollywood mission and Valentino himself will affect what happens to Rudy in Hollywood.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: baker, wife, actor, producer, executive, amusing, playful ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Tom Mix (Bruce Willis) and Wyatt Earp (James Garner) solve a murder mystery at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
Plot Keywords: wyatt earp, ex-girlfriend, studio head, son, thug, actor, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!